With some Republicans howling about Mario Carrera being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and a shill for Democrats, it’s worth asking how he came to be appointed to the Colorado Reapportionment Commission, the panel drawing new state legislative districts.

Colorado Supreme Court Justice Michael Bender appointed him to the panel, but Bender only did so after someone recommended Carrera for the job.

Who was that? According to email correspondence from Bender about recommendations, it was none other than Ryan Call, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

Republican state chairman Ryan Call and his counterpart for the Democrats, Rick Palacio, responded to the state’s Supreme Court​ ruling today that rejected a map of newly drawn state legislative districts.

The State Supreme Court’s decision today validates what Colorado Republicans have been arguing all along – that the Reapportionment Commission must first look to keeping counties boundaries whole before looking to non-constitutional criteria in drawing district boundaries.”

Colorado Republicans agree with the Colorado Supreme Court that a measure of a district’s so-called ‘competitiveness’ and other non-constitutional factors should only be considered after all other constitutional criteria of respecting counties and city boundaries and protecting our state’s unique and diverse communities have first been fully met. Respecting county boundaries and communities of interest leads to more effective representation as legislators will better reflect the perspectives and needs of the communities they are chosen to represent.

The Court’s recognition of the Reapportionment Commission’s ‘effort and commitment to a difficult and complex endeavor’ is praise that Colorado Republicans share. We appreciate that the High Court has remanded the maps for review with specific guidance that will allow the Reapportionment Commission to revise the district maps in accordance with the legal criteria described in our state Constitution.

Rick Palacio

And here is Palacio’s statement:

We had some concerns about several districts in the plan that the Reapportionment Commission agreed on, and Democrats should treat the return of the maps as an opportunity to address those issues. I’m confident that can be done in a way that meets the Supreme Court’s approval in a few weeks.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock holds a press conference today, recognizing his 100th day in office. He stands on the east steps of the Denver City and County Building in front of his cabinet and staff members. Former Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll some how slipped in to the crowd.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock quoted Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Luther King Jr. in recognizing his 100th day in office, adding “there is much work that has to be done.”

Meanwhile, what is former House Speaker Terrance Carroll doing in this picture?

“I was just in some meetings and walking out, the next thing I knew I was in the middle of the press conference,” he said, deflecting any question of whether he is a modern day Forrest Gump — the fictional movie character who always seemed to slip into historical events.

Conservatives for weeks have floated the rumor that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was lobbying the chairman of the Colorado Reapportionment Commission over new legislature boundaries. A conservative blog this week even published it as fact.

But chairman Mario Carrera discounted the rumor when I asked him about it last Thursday. He said he’s been lobbied by plenty of folks, but not by Salazar or anyone representing him.

Harry Kottcamp, chairman of the Grand County Republicans, has fought to keep his county in a Western Slope House district. Although new maps will be released today, it's still not clear what will happen.

The Colorado Reapportionment Commission has until Oct. 7 to finalize its maps and send them to the Colorado Supreme Court for approval. The commission has been meeting since May, first gathering data to help draw preliminary maps and then embarking on a 25-city statewood tour to gather input on those preliminary maps.

Commission members used that data to issue today’s maps. Some highlights:

Let’s go back to the beginning, when Hobbs, now a Colorado Supreme Court justice, unwittingly played a central role in the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary.

Former Congressman Scott McInnis, the frontrunner, was paid $300,000 for work he claimed was original but turned out to be plagiarized from water articles Hobbs had earlier written. The revelation torpedoed McInnis’ candidacy.

The election is over, but now Colorado is mired in reapportionment, the fancy term given to redrawing legislative boundaries to accommodate for population shifts documented by the U.S. Census. This year’s redistricting debate is peppered with frequent references to “the Hobbs opinion” from a decade ago.

Colorado’s Supreme Court judges survived an attempt this year to oust them from office but a new effort is underway to limit the justices to two-year terms.

A proposed ballot measure filed today would change the current term of office for Colorado Supreme Court judges from 10 years to two years, meaning every two years voters in Colorado would decide whether to retain them or oust them.

The measure, filed by Peter Coulter and Howard Sherman, impacts only Supreme Court justices and not those serving on the Court of Appeals, district courts or county courts. The 22 appeals court judges, for example, serve eight-year terms.

In addition, under the proposal, the chief justice of the Supreme Court could only serve in that role for two years at a time.

The proposed measure was filed with the Legislative Council, the first in a series of steps to getting a proposal on the ballot. If successful, voters would weigh in on the issue in the 2012 general election.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.